


Sburb: The Calling

by TheFunNinja



Category: Homestuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 14:59:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14547255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFunNinja/pseuds/TheFunNinja
Summary: The game of Sburb is one of hurt, loss, and total destruction. Many walk down the wrong path, some of them the right path, but this story is about friends who chose to walk the middle road. The middle road is one of uneasiness, misfortune, and personal struggle. Yet against all odds, this team was lead to victory, a victory well-earned and great. This is the story about the struggles each of these 6 players had, the odds that were stacked against them, and what they overcame together. Through a strange friendship, the burning questions and desires hid deep inside were brought to light. They may not have been answered in full, but it shed light on the right path.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short description of what each character had to become, and what they hid deep inside

The Witch of Rage: This story will be told by the one who started it all. This story is one of a very troubled girl, one who acted one way for one moment, and then a completely other way the next. This game was started because of this person's selfish want for a fresh start, but instead of the scorn and hatred she expected from her comrades, she was shown the kindness she needed to see who she really was, and who she was meant to be. The witch of rage is able to control fears, emotions, and secrets that we all hide, however, those who take the quest of rage must be in touch with their own emotions, and if it is started with a troubled mind or corrupt heart, the fears they harbor deep inside will be the only emotion they can’t control. Secrets are kept by this person, and fear will haunt her, the fear of her team finding the horrific truth of her intentions. The question of her becoming corrupt and controlled by the rage, or in touch and at peace with the aspect is one that will be answered in time, as the story marches on.

The Knight of Light: The journey of this perceived pessimist is one that would be contradictory to others beliefs of the person, as a knight of light is one to protect their aspect, and the aspect of fortune is one in great need of protection in a game where the odds are stacked against all who aim to claim victory. Little is known about the girl who took this quest, as she hides behind her aspect to mask the fear that she will not be able to fulfill her destiny, and yet her pessimism would grow to be as much of an ally as the positive words from her trusting team of misfits. Her true mission would be learning to keep things in perspective and keep the future in sight, and whether or not she would fully prevail, or succumb to the tempting shadow would be revealed in due time.

The Sylph of Breath: This child would be one underestimated, misunderstood, and yet one of the most valuable assets in this journey. The sylph is one that heals their teammates, and the breath would be their asset in doing so. The Sylph of Breath would motivate their teammates and keep them fighting throughout their entire session. The Sylph would analyze their teammates and find a goal which they saw fitting for them to complete. They would also help their teammates overcome their personal demons or underlying doubt so that if they ever lost sight of who they truly were and what they aimed to accomplish, the sylph would show them. The Sylph of Breath would also aim to give freedom to those who are oppressed and to make sure that everyone could accomplish their dreams. Upon being fully realized, the sylph of breath would restore breath to her teammates, being able to stop them from drowning or asphyxiation. This child was an unexpected turn of events, and yet, as underappreciated as he was, without this one boy, the session would have very well been doomed.

The page of heart: This strange and mysterious boy would be underestimated, and his struggles masked behind a pair of sunglasses that hid many other deep secrets, never to be revealed, this would both hinder him and give him strength at the same time. The journey of a page is one longer than any other class, and yet the rare few that are able to complete this journey are rewarded with unrivaled power. The aspect of heart would be learning about themselves, or the others around them, and so this young man’s journey would be a long one of self-discovery, and finding just who really is behind the glasses, just who is at the center of the soul. In order to complete his journey, he will have to be able to step down, away from his friends, and do things on his own. This boy would hide from his journey, would try to dismiss it all, to seem as though everything was fine, that he was fine, but this journey would need more than just himself. Would he be able to tell his friends about what he needed, to take what he truly needed for himself rather than to give it to others? Would he save himself after everyone else is fine, or would he still put himself aside and help others while enduring his own suffering? This answer has also been hidden, but the story would leave a crack in the shades that shield his secrets, revealing the answer to this question, but not much more. His heterosexual insecure secrets remain locked away, even after he finds himself and reaches balance, there will still be pain. The Journey of the Page, for this young boy, will never truly be over, even after he has reached his destination, his final goal, unless he learns to let go. For his insecurities, over time, have become a part of him, and no matter what he learns or achieves, it will always be with him. This is not necessarily a journey of change, only one of understanding.

The Rogue of Light: The last person to enter this session would be given the journey with the most uncertain path. The Rogue's journey involves having problems with their aspect, and lack of self-confidence could cause them to give up too easily. The challenge would be coming to terms with the person they need to become. This player had a problem with attention, and yet a Rogue of Light is a very valuable player to have, causing a dependence on the player. While the players depended on them, the powers they needed to have seemed out of reach, and unattainable. And yet, at the moment when they were needed the most, they were able to become the saving grace of the final battle. The quest felt lonely for the Rogue, as they felt as though no weakness should be shown with such dependence on them. Even with the presence of friends and help, he was able to find just the answer he needed at just the right time deep within himself. How did the player do it, how did the player live up to the great expectations of the team and give them the fortune they needed to succeed? This question will be long unanswered in the story, but the answer will shine bright and reveal just what needed to be answered, at just the right time.


	2. Chapter 2

It was summer in Florida, and Olivia was bored out of her mind with nothing that she could think of doing for fun. She was just sitting around thinking about what to do, when she was reminded of the game that would be cool to play, but if it were actually real, it would cause the end of the entire world. Yet something that was somewhat similar to that sort of game didn't sound too bad at all to play, maybe it could even keep her busy for the entire summer! She had been taking medication to help her ADD and ADHD, but this summer, she was trying to stray away from the expensive pills and learn to get along without them. Perhaps the lack of pills contributed to her lack of rational thinking as she happened across just what she was looking for.

The girl sat dumbstruck staring at her screen, thinking about what would happen if she decided to go through with the download of this game labeled “Sburb Beta”. She couldn't believe she found something that looked so similar to the real thing. However, on the small chance that it was real, it would cause the end of the world, only able to save a few, causing major grief for all. To test whether or not the game would be entirely true to the stories, she simply downloaded the game. It would be fine as long as she didn’t start playing it, the world wouldn’t end. When the flashing screen revealed the true power that the game had, it was real, there was no doubt.  
The mouse was hovering over the play button, it was then that her morals were put into question. Was it worth causing the end of the world, all for a fun adventure with friends? She knew that it wasn’t right, that she should just delete the game and never speak of it, yet that voice inside her head made the choice to play seem like the only one. In her lapse of judgement, she clicked, and the game began. The terror just began to sink in, she had caused the end of the world. It wasn’t a choice that was made without knowledge of the consequences, she was fully aware of what she had done.  
Instead of panicking, or feeling guilty, she turned on her discord, and sent a messege to see who was online and available. The only people to respond were a handful of her internet ‘friends’: Walker, Blue, Sumi, Legacy, and Frost. Upon listing who was there, she made a new group with all of them in it, and before anything about this sudden group could be questioned, the girl, known to her friends as Fun, began to explain the situation, leaving out details of who really started it.  
Chat log:  
Fun: Ok so like, I told you guys about homestuck and the game once right?

Blue: Yeah, you wouldn’t stop talking about it for an hour

Fun: Well ok, So like I saw on the news that there are some meteors headed for earth, and then I was like “oh wow it's like Sburb” and I checked it out and the game is real, and somebody must have played it, so now we're all doomed?

Walker: Just got on, Geometry homework, What are you talking about? I haven’t heard anything about Meteors, Is this Serious? And what’s Sburb?

 

Fun: Walker, don’t make me sass fight you, how dare you be serious, here lemme find that news clip that showed about the meteors, and if I prove it, we will all play right?

Frost: Fun, I find it hard to take you seriously

Sumi: This is gay

Fun had no idea what to do or why she said she would gather the proof, because she saw no such news clip, and had no idea where to find one. She began searching the internet for a clip, and she found one that spoke of the gravity of the meteor situation. It was a lucky break to find just the article she needed, and as she copied the link, it struck her. Shouldn’t she feel remorse, or guilt? She caused the end of the world, the death of billions, and yet she could only feel excitement for the game to come, and shame at the idea of her friends learning the truth. She was snapped out of her trance at the sound of a new message.

Legacy: Um Fun? You there? Did you find the thing?

Fun: What? Oh yeah, here it is - https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/06/01/WeArefucked/357551001/ (walker this is a working link about spotting drowning children wtf)

There was a pause as the group watched the news clip, and the reality sunk in, and everybody was too busy being stunned to speak. However after what seemed like hours, Sumi sent a message

Sumi: Well. Shit. Is there any way we can save more people? It seems wrong to just leave an entire population to get butt raped by meteors

Fun: Yeah, and you guys were the only people online, so I talked to you first. Are we all on board with playing?

Frost: Well, since the demise of the entire planet is confirmed, no reason not to I guess.

Walker: I guess this is our only option, we can’t contact anyone else in time, but how dangerous will this be?

Fun: Yeah probably, a few of us might die?

Blue: Well that’s fun! But yeah, we might as well, and we have a better chance since you know the basics

Legacy: If everybody else is on board I might as well, no use getting left behind on a doomed planet.

Fun: Ok, I guess I'll send a link to the download, but who should enter first, what should the order be?

 

Sumi: Well you already have it downloaded, so you should go first, and then Frost since she knows about this stuff also? This is so stupid, who even starts a game like this? I just hope they didn't know exactly what they were doing, what kind of sicko would knowingly end the world?

The fingers that started the download of the apocalypse hesitated to reply, and instead sent the copy of the game. She wished to type the truth, and yet it was only her mind that yearned for justice, while her heart felt no remorse. Yet at that time, both the mind and heart of the conflicted youth agreed that the truth, if it ever were to be told, could wait for a later date. The conflicted mind was brought to reality as a loud crash rang through her eardrums. It seems that the host player had just deployed the totem lathe, Cruxtruder, and Alchemizer, and in the process, trashed the entire apartment. 

A confused server player looked around and saw a tail sticking out from underneath the newly placed totem lathe, and Fun was able to recognize it as her treasured cat, Cocoa. He was an old cat, and not the brightest, but the best pet a girl could hope to ask for. A few tears were shed over the lost friend, he was a good friend that had been through many tough times. While it could be brought back as a sprite, it wouldn't be the same. And yet she knew that this game would be full of more sorrow, and she needed to move on, just as her dear cat would have wanted her to do. She needed to look forward with a smile, and she did just that, but not without letting some anger out first.

“GOD FUCKING DAMMIT ANNA, I THINK YOU JUST CRUSHED MY STUPID CAT TO DEATH!”

There were many things to do, and so many possibilities for adventure and fun times with friends. The first thing the girl did was grab her scythe she bought at an animoo convention, but now she could use it to kick some imp ass, and just like that, Fun was running around like a child that had just been spoon fed 10 pounds of sugar. The host player couldn’t help but face palm at these antics, she knew the girl was hyper, but seeing her run around like this was beyond what she could have imagined. 

And just like that, the guilt was pushed to the back of her mind, and her adventure began. The truth, however, would have to be revealed eventually, but how and when it was revealed was entirely up to the girl. However, this girl’s troubles with the game were shared with the Knight of Light too, the girl named Anna had doubts in her mind, no chance of victory could be seen by her, only the outcome of the death of all. Briefly, Anna saw a glimpse of what looked like a new universe, but the vision of a fortunate outcome faded away as quickly as it flashed into view. She saw the outcome that could happen, and as the Knight of Light, her job was to protect that future. 

The doubts and guilt would have to be pushed aside, and the game would need to begin as quickly as possible for a favorable outcome, so the host player wasted no time in doing what needed to be done. It was true that Anna only had confidence in a horrific outcome, but she still saw a glimpse of a bright future. The fate of the new world was in the hands of this strange group, and although victory was assured for the team as soon as the first player entered, the struggle of getting there is a story with many tales to tell, and all will be told as the battlefield grew larger.


	3. Chapter 3

To start the game, a totem would need to be taken from the newly deployed Cruxtruder and get the sprite to appear, but when Anna stepped away to grab some food, she came back to seeing fun on top of the Cruxtruder gnawing at the top trying to get it off. Anna began to think she would get a bruise from all the face palms she had done so far. She decided to send her a private chat message before she broke her jaw or something else.

Chat Log:

Frost: Um, Fun? Do you want help or would you rather cause major damage to your teeth?

Fun: Um… Yeah help sounds like the better option. I'll get my revenge Cruxtruder top thing!

With a sigh at her childish antics, Anna picked up a large office chair from nearby with her curser and dropped it on the top, causing it to pop off and extrude a pink uncarved totem. Without needing to be told, Olivia grabbed the totem and brought it over to the totem lathe, placing it in position. At this point, Anna was confused by how fun was acting, it was much more hyper and Bi-Polar than she normally acted.

Anna was a rather close friend of Olivia, so she knew about her taking medication to help keep her in check, and then realized she must not have taken them. It was an occurrence that wasn't unnatural for Olivia, it had happened at least a few times every year. 

Frost: Fun, did you take your medicine today? You're acting really strange and I'm beginning to think that it may be due to your lack of pills...

Fun: Oh, yeah. Well you see, those things are expensive, and since it's summer, I don't need them that badly, so I haven't been taking them at all this summer, we don't even have any left. By the way, Screw you, you killed my cat. I guess he was pretty old though, but still the fuck. Can you move the Alchemizer so I can collect his corpse. *cough* Fuck you *cough*. New phone who dis. I didn’t say that, because I forgive you. I'll be sure to prototype him so we can bring him along.

Frost: Well, roadkill aside, sorry by the way, we should get started with the game as soon as possible if we want to have enough time to get everybody safely into the game. You should prototype your sprite first, just throw some shit into that thing that doesn't look the least bit threatening.

With that, Fun ran into her room and opened the closet, got in, and shut the door as if she had things to hide inside. Fun grabbed a stuffed raccoon and slammed open the closet, screaming at the top of her lungs “I’M GAY”. It took a moment to register, but when Frost realized she was “coming out of the closet”, facepalmed for the 15th time today. When she didn't get a laugh from her co-player, she angrily stomped towards the sprite mumbling to herself “Roadkill, my ass… Awesome gay joke.... No sense of comedy... Hey do i still have pudding in the fridge?” She began to walk towards the kitchen and get some pudding when Frost messaged her “FOCUS!” only to realize that her words were not getting to her, and she decided to do the most insane thing ever. She moused over the closed fridge and clicked, dragging the heavy object until it was placed right smack in the middle of the bed.

Fun then shouted with glee “PUDDING BED FUCK YES” She grabbed a 6 pack of pudding from the fridge and then remembered she was being watched. “It's not an addiction, I can stop whenever I want. I just don't want to stop.”

She tossed the stuffed raccoon into the kernel sprite, and it took form of a raccoon that had a large pudding stain on the face. Olivia looked down at her hands to realise she had gotten pudding everywhere again, even on her forehead. “HOW THE FUCK DOES THAT KEEP HAPPENING!?” She looked around and proceeded to wipe her hands on the couch. After wiping her hands clean, she grabbed her deceased pet, and carefully tossed him into the sprite. With a flash of light and a loud meow, a newly formed raccoon cat was floating in front of her.

Her reunion with her cat was short and sweet, most likely due to the fact he was only dead for like 10 minutes, but tears of joy were still shed. After a large hug, Fun noticed that there was only 10 minutes left on the clock. 

Frost: So, could you cut the reunion a bit short? I know that was a touching scene, but we have much bigger things to worry about!

Fun: Touching scene, said the murderer, but yeah, all i gotta do now is deploy the totem on the alchemizer right? Then let's do that!

Fun scurried to where the Alchemizer was deployed, and placed the carved totem onto it, having it turn into a ball of yarn that needed to be unwound. She eyed her cat and then the ball of yarn and started to run with the cat holding onto one end of the string. Once the yarn had become a long trail of string, the apartment had vanished and appeared in the Land of Cats and Custard. Fun was ready to jump off the balcony and land face first into the creamy ground of tasty custard when her sprite began to talk to her. While Frost was unable to listen to the conversation, she did see fun begin to tear up and quietly cry for a bit, only to receive another hug. 

Frost: Alright then, this is very interesting… Waiting for the inevitable death by happiness.

Fun: Hey Frost, Coco and I have some things to talk about, and I pretty much know what to do from here, so after we finish talking I’ll go fight some enemies and alchemize some things, why don't you have blue get you into your session before starting to build up to my gate?

Frost: Ok, but Imma gonna stop you on that thought. Y’see, I want to have one last spot of Arizona before our inevitable doomsday, so that would take me… two… thirty? Yeah, just make it into thirty minutes to take a sip of the can… Most likely, blue is scrambling around at the moment, I could even hear the stairs caving in...

Fun: Alright, just make sure you stay safe, I'll get some grist going so we can build up to my gate!

FunBucketBurt has gone offline.


	4. Chapter 4

While Anna was taking a swig of her favorite brand of cold tea, she heard a noise coming from downstairs before her internet shuts off and she lost connection to Fun.

“Dammit, what the hell is going on down there?”

Carrying the can in her hand, Anna makes her way down to the first floor where she realized that the stairs were taken out by what looks like an air conditioner dropped on top of it. In the next second, she felt the ground shake as a Cruxtruder was placed down somewhere in the basement. Another thump was heard coming from the living room and she saw that the Lathe was deployed with haste, although, very sloppily. There was possibly no room to fit herself or anything else when going to and from the other side.

“Okay, so who the hell is the genius who decided that I could get down to the Cruxtruder when my fucking stairs are busted?!”

Blue: Well, shit. Didn’t mean to do that.

Frost: Well, if you would have listened before, I wanted to take a swig of the whole can of Ari and enjoy the moment!

Blue: No one cares about your damned drink! We’re all going to die if we run out of time!

The sound of pipes breaking started to be heard, and even more loud crashes came from the basement.

Frost: Blue, what the hell did you do...? I hope that is not the wash or dryer...

Blue: What if I said it is…?

Frost: …

Blue: Get off my case! Fun told me that we’d need something heavy to open this thing up, so I instantly thought of a clothes washer!

Frost: I hope that you are prepared for what happens next…

Anna makes her way downstairs, careful not to fall and land on her head to meet an early grave. Blue tried again to break open the lid but with no success until he decided to mouse over and drop a couch on it.

A Kernel Sprite with a black color started to float up and dart around, and Anna started to freak out. It moved so fast that she had to constantly double take in order to not fall down into the basement. She tried to stash away as much stuff as possible in the hopes of corralling the thing somewhere else, until it decided, for whatever reason, to head straight to her room.

A flash of light shines brightly in her eyes and a rabbit bounced itself into the basement when another flash of light happened.

“Jesus Christ, do they want me to have epilepsy?!”

A sort of giggling could clearly be heard as a colorfully splattered totem immediately was shot at her head, only to be stuck into the ceiling and slipping down to the floor. Anna picks up the totem, winching back as the multi-colored slime clung to her fingers and dropping onto the floor. The place where the glowing object fell was also splattered with a disgusting cannonball sized explosion of color.

Everything down there was covered in what appears to be a hippy’s psychedelic wet dream. The sprite itself was in the shape of a rabbit, and it was casually munching on a poorly drawn carrot.

“Wait, a poorly drawn carrot?”

No matter how she looked at it, the rabbit was definitely holding something ripped straight out of a comic book, a carrot with thick lines only at the base and an unnaturally pointy spike bottom.

Rabbitsprite, as Anna would like to call it, started to jump around, and spraying new splotches of ink on the walls wherever it went.

“Now my house is starting to look more like it got TP’d on Halloween.”

Frost: Hey, blue… are you seeing this…?

Blue: I can’t see anything. The thing is making everything turn into a clusterfuck for us.

The totem was placed in the lathe and drilled. Then, with the thing chucked into the alchemiter, a black brick appeared. There were no openings, just a large black brick.

“Fuck my life…”

The first thing Anna tried doing was picking the sucker up and slam-dunking it on the floor, only to be ineffective and leaving a dent into said floor. All Blue could see was Anna having a fit of road rage trying to break open a box while he manually cleaned his screen with his mouse. It was comical until she took to a crowbar and started bashing it over and over again until the thing broke.

It was a case of five cans, each with a white “Arizona” label on each. Right then and there, when Blue finished cleaning the tie-dye slime off of the monitor, the only thing he could do was shout “Son of a whore!” and facepalm as Anna’s face lit up.

She cracked open one can and went bottoms-up on it. Disturbingly, her face started to melt in the most derpy of smiles. She took time to sip the first can, and despite Blue’s attempts to get her away from it, much less tip over or destroy a can, the thing would not spill or break. It was almost as if she was high enough to forget that there was a meteor or two heading to her house.

Blue: Fuck those cans! Just hurry up, we don’t have all day!

Frost: Haha… but it’s just… so good…

Blue: Frost, what the hell! Are you high or some shit?

Frost: No… not at all… Just… savoring the taste…

Blue: Savoring the taste my ass.

Even when Blue attempts to get Anna to drink the cans faster, his screen would be filled over and over again for one hour by Rabbitsprite bouncing around. During that one hour, she had finished all five cans, transporting her entire house to a land of black and white, where the only color belonged to the rivers, tree leaves, and slime that was oozing out of the ground.

There were also obscenely large pots with the same slime pouring out of the massive spouts.

The Land of Tea and Ink


End file.
